Ben Cockayne

Ben Cockayne (born 20 July 1983) is an English former rugby league footballer who usually played as a fullback or on the wing. He is most remembered for his two spells with Hull Kingston Rovers, with whom he won two promotions to the Super League, in 2006 and 2017, respectively. He also played for Hunslet Hawks, Doncaster RLFC, Featherstone Rovers, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats and York City Knights.

Ben Cockayne
Personal information
Born (1983-07-20) 20 July 1983
Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England[1]
Playing information
Height5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[1]
Weight13 st 12 lb (88 kg)[1]
PositionFullback, Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2004 Hunslet Hawks 2 0 0 0 0
2005 Doncaster RLFC 22 17 6 0 80
2006–11 Hull Kingston Rovers 139 57 2 0 232
2011 Featherstone Rovers 9 11 0 0 44
2012–13 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 56 28 2 0 116
2014–17 Hull Kingston Rovers 93 21 18 0 120
2018–19 York City Knights 35 13 0 0 52
2021–22 Doncaster RLFC 19 2 0 0 8
Total 375 149 28 0 652
Source: [2][3]

Background

Cockayne was born in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England.[1]

Career

Doncaster

Ben started his rugby league career with his local amateur club Normanton Knights. He had some trials with Super League sides such as Wakefield Trinity and Castleford. He was then given a chance to play for Doncaster in National League One on a trial basis by St. John Ellis who was then the coach of Doncaster.[4]

Hull Kingston Rovers

After impressing for Doncaster, especially against Hull Kingston Rovers in 2005 at Craven Park, Cockayne signed for Hull Kingston Rovers whilst they were in National League One. During the 2006 season, Cockayne was a first team regular in the squad, playing 29 games and helping his side to promotion by scoring 27 tries. He came second in the ranks for top try-scorer for Hull Kingston Rovers in 2006, and was Man-of-the-Match in the Robins' memorable game that saw them be promoted to Super League.

In the 2006 season, Hull Kingston Rovers won the Rugby League National League One competition and were promoted to the Super League competition for the 2007 season.[5]

Cockayne playing for Hull KR

He left in July 2011 following a suspension for a number of off-field incidents.[6]

Featherstone Rovers

The departure from Hull KR came just after the closure of the Super League signing deadline, so Cockayne signed for Championship side Featherstone Rovers until the end of the season.[7] On 2 October 2011 Featherstone won the Championship Grand Final, and later that month Cockayne signed with Wakefield Trinity.[8]

Wakefield Trinity

Cockayne initially signed a one-year contract[8] with Wakefield which was extended with a two-year deal[9] and he went on to play 45 times for Trinity. However, in 2013 Wakefield Trinity were forced to sell players to pay off debts and Cockayne moved back to Hull Kingston Rovers at the end of 2013.[10]

Hull Kingston Rovers

In the 2014 season, Cockayne transferred to Hull Kingston Rovers, where he replaced Eden as Rovers' regular Full Back. Regarded by many as a terrace hero during his first stint at Hull Kingston Rovers, he became a fans' favourite once again due to his form during his second stint.[11]

York City Knights

In September 2017 it was announced that Cockayne had signed to play for York City Knights in the 2018 season.[12]

Controversy

In 2009 Cockayne was found guilty of actual bodily harm after CCTV footage showed him punching and kicking a man in the head. Cockayne was given a 51 week jail sentence suspended for 2 years. He was also ordered to complete 240 hours of community service.[13]

In April 2011, Cockayne allegedly posted racist comments on Facebook. Cockayne's Facebook profile was removed within hours of the Mirror newspaper contacting his club and the Rugby Football League. A Hull Kingston Rovers spokesman said: "The club will be carrying out a full internal investigation into comments allegedly made on a website by Ben Cockayne. Nobody will be commenting further until that has concluded." The Rugby Football League, which has a Kick Racism into Touch campaign, said: "We will be speaking to Hull Kingston Rovers about a potential social media matter."[14] Cockayne was fined by Hull KR, but faced no further punishment from the police after dropping their own investigation of the incident.[15]

Retirement

In June 2019, Cockayne called time on his rugby playing career at the age of 35,[16] but came out of retirement two years later to sign for Doncaster R.L.F.C. in RFL League 1.[17] In July 2022, he left Doncaster to take up a coaching role at York City Knights.[18]

References
  1. "Hull Kingston Rovers 1st Team Ben Cockayne". Hull Kingston Rovers RLFC. Hull Kingston Rovers RLFC. 2015. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  2. "Player Summary: Ben Cockayne". Rugby League Records. Rugby League Record Keepers Club. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  3. RLP
  4. Kear, John (18 July 2006). "Scouting report: Ben Cockayne, Hull Kingston Rovers". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  5. "The inside story of Hull KR's 2006 Grand Final win as told by key players". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  6. "Hull KR and suspended Ben Cockayne part company". BBC. 15 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  7. "Featherstone Rovers sign ex-Hull KR back Ben Cockayne". BBC. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  8. "Ben Cockayne pens Wakefield Trinity Wildcats contract". BBC. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  9. "Wakefield Wildcats' Ben Cockayne gets new two-year deal". BBC. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  10. "Wakefield: Ben Cockayne set to re-join Hull KR". BBC. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  11. "EXCLUSIVE: Hull KR want Ben Cockayne back from Wakefield Wildcats". Hull Daily Mail. 3 July 2013. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  12. "Another York City Knights coup - Hull KR star Ben Cockayne signs for 2018". The Press. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  13. "Rugby star attacker avoids jail". BBC News. 2 April 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  14. Rugby League star Ben Cockayne faces probe over alleged racist comments on Facebook. mirror.co.uk (21 April 2011). Retrieved on 11 October 2011.
  15. Wilson, Andy (12 May 2011). "Hull KR fine Ben Cockayne after police drop racism investigation". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  16. "Ben Cockayne hangs up his boots". Love Rugby League. 29 June 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  17. "Ben Cockayne makes rugby league return with Doncaster". Love Rugby League. 16 August 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  18. "Knights name former player Cockayne as new assistant coach". York Press. 18 July 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
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